Here in the PacNW there's no denying that cider is making a big impact on the market and we're A-OK with that. In fact there are quite a few ciders that we enjoy (which you may have seen pop up on our Best Things round up from time to time) and we're very excited that the 5th Annual Willamette Week Pro/Am is now officially the Beer and Cider Pro/Am. Last year's event featured a couple of non-beers; this year there will be eight joining the 24 beers.
The event returns to the city's best quadrant after a couple years inhabiting the North Warehouse. The 32 beverage line up will be pouring at District East (2305 SE 9th) and it will be our fourth year attending. Each year the growing number of entries reflects the growing popularity of the event. The full list of pro and amateur brewing pairs is here and like us, there's a good chance you'll see some familiar names on the Am side. The names/styles of the beers/ciders will be revealed at the event however one of the Ams is giving us a sneak peek of his collaboration.
VIP tickets get you in at Noon, are limited to 100 people and include a meal voucher for one of the food carts that will be on-site; general admission ticket holders have 1pm entrance. With either option you'll get to try all 32 entries and be able to vote for your favorite beer and cider (two separate categories). We hope to see you there!
Willamette Week's 5th Annual Beer and Cider Pro/Am
Saturday, October 14
District East, 2305 SE 9th Ave
12 - 6pm
Tickets: $55 VIP, $28 GA, $10 DD
Saturday, amidst "Portland Windstorm '16," the 4th Annual Willamette Week Beer Pro/Am took place in the comfy, dry confines of the North Warehouse. This year there were over 30 collaborations, more than a couple which surprised me in delightful ways. I would not have thought an India Pale Lager, a Doppelbock, a Yerba Mate-containing beer or a couple of Belgian styles would have hit the right notes with me. Yet they did, along with a sour, a couple of IPAs and a beer based on one of my favorite Girl Scout cookies. Quite an array of beers, no?
I was also thrilled to be part of the judging team that awarded Great Notion and Chad Graham's Amprosia Saison as the Judge's Choice winner. A beautiful color with a nicely sour nose and flavor, this pair - which I know both the pros and the amateur - showcased their talents with mixed fermentation and fruit. Runner up aka Honorable Mention went to the team of Rogue and Tracy Hensley for their barreled Belgian brew that combined the worlds of beer and wine.
The People's Choice went to one of the beers with a great name - Ex Novo and Jack Hall's It Burns When IPA, a jalapeno cream ale that had balanced heat and I'd love to have with nachos. Tied for People's Choice Honorable Mention were Fort George and Chris McNeel's The Doomed Rider, a wee heavy that was smoky and sweet and Bretta Persica, the Brett fermented IPA on nectarines from Coalition and Jon and Parker Hall that was fruity, dry and tart.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the most unique beer of the festival, Barely Legal Hazy CBD IPA. This creation came from Dean Pottle, Portland beer scene legend and proprietor of Dean's Scene, who passed away days earlier. CBD, the non-psychoactive substance in marijuana, was infused into a New England style IPA and I for one found the aroma of freshly harvested hops rolled between my palms and the flavor that mirrored it to be delicious.
In addition to the beers the food from both of the carts on hand - Thrive Sauce and Bowls (formerly Thrive NW) and PDX Sliders - were delicious and offered exactly what was needed to soak up all the liquid goodness.
There could have been more port-a-potties (are there ever enough at "that time" at a beer festival?) and it did get crowded as the afternoon went on but overall every year Steph Barnhart has improved this festival. (The charging station was a new addition that hopefully will become a festival feature as common as water stations.) I look forward to next year's iteration with great anticipation!
The Willamette Week Beer Pro/Am, now in it's fourth year, takes place this Saturday at the North Warehouse (down the street from Widmer). For those unfamiliar with the event it features brewing teams - part commercial brewery and part amateur brewer. "Amateur" is technical by definition only; these amateurs tend to be very accomplished homebrewers who have been doing this for years, entered countless competitions and taken home awards for their beers. The creations attendees will be sampling easily qualify as something the "pro" part of the team could turn out and who knows, maybe in the future you can say you were one of the first to have the beer that started out as a Pro/Am entry and has now become a beer the brewery makes.
Beyond the cool factor of the professional and amateur brewers collaborating, an aspect that keeps the connection between where most brewers started and where they are today, here are a few more reasons you should strongly consider scrapping any other plans for Saturday and attending.
#1 The beers made for this festival will be some of the most creative you'll run across. From a lavender and vanilla cream ale, the collaboration of homebrewers Jen McPoland and Jeremie Landers and Burnside Brewing's Natalie Baldwin (who won as the "am" part of a team in 2014) to Amprosia, a mixed culture Saison with local Chenin Blanc and Merlot grapes from Great Notion Brewing and Chad Graham (aka Before Noon Brew) to a barrel aged dry sparkling session mead from Oregon Mead & Cider Co. (formerly Stung Fermented) and Brewvana Brewery Tours to Purple Rain, a Brett fermented cider with pureed Oregon black currants from Swift Cider and Miranda Karson, the 30 collaborations showcase the skill these teams possess.
#2 Both parts of the brewing team will be on hand pouring their beer and will be more than happy to talk to you about it. Unlike big festivals where often volunteers, who may or may not have tried the beer, are pouring it you'll not only get your glass filled by someone who has had the beer but by someone who has played an integral part in its design and making.
#3 I'll be there and you know it's been too long since we last had a beer together. I've been fortunate to be asked back for a third year as a judge meaning I will be there for the entire time of the festival and will be trying every single entry. Even if you can only come for a few hours on one end or the other look hard enough (I am short) and I'll be there somewhere.
Willamette Week's 4th Annual Beer Pro/Am
Saturday, October 15
1-6:30pm (12pm entry for VIP)
723 N Tillamook Street
Tickets:
$25 general admission includes pint glass, enough tickets to taste all of the beer/mead/cider, pretzel necklace & free retro video games
$55 VIP tops those benefits with early entry, voucher for event food vendors PDX Sliders or Thrive Sauce & Bowls and event t-shirt
A week ago I was stoked for the Willamette Week's Beer Pro/Am. This week has me already excited for next year's event and here's why.
The biggest reason is that this is one of the few, possibly the only, beer festival in town where you'll be able to talk to each and every brewer and they'll be pouring the beer. I'm not talking about just the amateurs. I'm talking about the professionals, too. Most festivals utilize volunteer pourers, many of which who have never tasted the beer they're pouring and I consider it a huge disservice to the beer and the brewer/brewery that made it.
A very close second reason is that this is a huge opportunity for both amateurs and professionals. On the amateurs' end, they collaborate with a professional and brew on a commercial system, things even well-seasoned homebrewers can appreciate. On the professionals' end this is a way to stay connected to the homebrewing and craft beer drinking community in a way that is increasingly difficult yet important to the heart of craft beer.
Beyond that the beers made for the festival rank right up there in creativity with those of the Fruit Beer Festival and tend to reflect the signature style of the brewers. For example, Capsaison from Upright Brewing and Ritch Marvin, was a barrel fermented saison with chili peppers. Saisons are in Upright's wheelhouse and anyone that knows Ritch knows his thing for growing and using chili peppers.
This year marked the third year of the festival and it's grown by leaps and bounds. Starting out in the Con-Way Warehouse in NW with a mere 12 Pro/Am pairs, last year it moved to Zarr Studios in SE where it filled the space to its gills and this year, now with 21 Pro/Am pairs, expanded to the former Metalcraft Fabrication location, now called The North Warehouse, just down the hill from Widmer. The space easily accommodated the event and I'm hopeful that it will be utilized next year. Regardless where it's held you can bet I'll be there to see what the Pro/Am pairs have brewed up.
In case you didn't attend or missed the subsequent coverage below are this year's winners and here is a full listing of the pairs:
Judges' Choice - 1st Place
13 Virtues and Bill Schneller
OG Stout, Historical 19th Century Imperial Brown Stout
Judges' Choice Honorable Mentions
Culmination and Jim Sullins
Kludde, Belgian IPA
Baerlic and Paul Key
First Crack Coffee Pale Ale
People's Choice - 1st Place
Coalition and Cullen Conway
Figtory! Saison with roasted figs
People's Choice - 2nd Place
Baerlic and Paul Key
First Crack Coffee Pale Ale
People's Choice - 3rd Place
Breakside and Larry Clouser
Palekaiko, Hawaiian Farmhouse Ale with Calamansi Lime and Habanero
Yesterday was the second year for the Willamette Week's Pro/AM event, held this year at Zarr Studios in SE. I wasn't able to attend last year's event but heard it was great and I was stoked to be attending this year. Even better, I'd been invited to be one of five judges AND I knew a fair number of the pros and amateurs that were competing.
With 21 pairs, and therefore 21 beers to drink my way through, I aimed to be strategic in my drinking, starting with the lower alcohol, lighter styles. Thankfully, there was a gigantic DigitalPour display projected on one of the walls for easy reference. It took a lot of restraint not to dive into the higher alcohol, darker styles I generally gravitate towards. And it took more focus to take thorough notes on each beer before moving on. As the afternoon wore on I also had to remind myself to keep moving to ensure that I made it through them all by 5:00 when then the judges would begin deliberating.
The beers ran the gamut from a very flavorful India Session Ale brewed at Ecliptic by home brewing couple Jenn McPoland and Jeremie Landers to a pale ale made with Hogan's cedar tips and Brett from home brewer Dave Barnes with new kid, Baerlic, to a Baltic Porter that bordered on being a milk stout, made at Fort George by home brewer Chad Graham. While there were styles and beers I preferred over others there wasn't a bad beer to be had in the room and the scores I gave the beers fell into a relatively narrow range.
In the end, after much deliberation, the judges chose their top three and by placing a marble in the pint glass of their favorite beer, so, too did The People.
Judge's Picks
1. Lucky Lab/Natalie Baldwin/Kells Boom Roaster with Ristretto Roasters (Imperial Coffee Milk Stout)
2. Pints/Kory Linsenmeyer Big Rig (Cascadian Dark Lager)
3. 10 Barrel/Lee Hedgmon Strawberry Shortcake's Velvet Hammer (Milk Stout)
People's Choice
1. Lucky Lab/Natalie Baldwin/Kell's Boom Roaster with Ristretto Roasters (Imperial Coffee Milk Stout)
2. Coalition/Matt Cortese Rock the Casbah Saison (Spiced Saison)
3. Breakside/Dan Shaw & Steven Rice Nants-Saison-Yah (Saison)
Besides Natalie having bragging rights for taking for taking both categories she also has the opportunity to have her beer re-brewed and put on tap at TILT.
Thank you to Steph and all of the Willamette Week staff that pulled off a great event. Thank you to the home and professional brewers that worked together to make so many great beers. Thank you to my fellow judges for easing the daunting task of selecting a top three.
If you weren't able to make it to the event, or are just hoping to have more of your favorites, keep your eyes peeled as I have a feeling some of these beers may be available (in very limited quantities) around town.
